Lecture

Concept of effective stress

Soil Permeability
4 Shear characteristics of soils
Coulomb’s equation for shear strength
Determination of shear strengths of soils

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 Permeability
In this section, you will able to know the following:

 Definition of hydraulic conductivity and its magnitude in various soils

 Laboratory determination of hydraulic conductivity
 Empirical relationship to estimate hydraulic conductivity
 Equivalent hydraulic conductivity in stratified soil based on the direction of
the flow of water
 Hydraulic conductivity determination from field tests

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 Soil Permeability
Permeability is defined as a capacity of soil to allow water
passes through it i.e. quantity of flowing for a unit of soil
surface under a pressure of 1 unit hydraulic gradient.

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 Soil Permeability
 Soils are permeable due to the existence of interconnected
voids through which water flow from points of high energy to
points of low energy.

 One of the major physical parameters of a soil that controls the rate of seepage
through it is hydraulic conductivity, otherwise known as the coefficient of
permeability
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 Soil Permeability

A soil is highly pervious when water can flow through it

easily. (Gravels)

In an impervious soil, the permeability is very low and

water cannot easily flow through it. (Clays)

The study of the flow of water through permeable soil

media is important in soil mechanics.

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 Importance of Permeability
The following applications illustrate the importance of
permeability in geotechnical design:
Permeability influences the rate of settlement of a saturated soil
under load.
The design of earth dams is very much based upon the
permeability of the soils used.
The stability of slopes and retaining structures can be greatly
affected by the permeability of the soils involved.
Filters made of soils are designed based upon their permeability.

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 Factors Affecting Permeability of Soils
1) Particle size
The Permeability varies approximately as the square of grain size. It
depends on the effective diameter of the grain size (D10)
2) Void ratio
Increase in the void ratio increases the area available for flow hence
permeability increases for critical conditions.
3. Properties of pore fluid.
Pore fluids are fluids that occupy pore spaces in a soil or rock.
Permeability is directly proportional to the unit weight of pore fluid
and inversely proportional to viscosity of pore fluid.
4. Shape of particles
Permeability is inversely proportional to specific surface e.g. as angular
soil have more specific surface area compared to the round soil
therefore, the soil with angular particles is less permeable than soil of
rounded particles.
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 Factors Affecting Permeability ofSoils
5. Structure of soil mass
For same void ratio the permeability is more for flocculent structure as
compared to the dispended structure

6. Degree of saturation
The permeability of partially saturated soil is less than that of fully
saturated soil.

Permeability

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 Factors Affecting Permeability of Soils
7. Adsorbed Water
Adsorbed Water means a thin microscopic film of water surrounding
individual soil grains. This water is not free to move and hence
reduces the effective pore space an thus decreases coefficient of
permeability.
8. Entrapped air and organic impurities
The organic impurities and entrapped air obstruct the flow and
coefficient of permeability is reduce due to their presence.

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 Factors Affecting Permeability of Soils
9. Temperature

As the viscosity of the pore fluid decrease with the temperature ,

permeability increases with temperature , as unit weight of pore fluid
does not change much with change in temperature.

10. Stratification of soil

Stratified soils are those soils which are formed by layer upon layer of
the earth or dust deposited on each other. If the flow is parallel to the
layers of stratification, the permeability is max. while the flow in
Perpendicular direction occur with min. permeability.

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 Water Flow
The water flow is divided into two categories:
1)Laminar flow
2)Turbulent flow
Laminar flow indicates that each
water particle follows a definite
path and never crosses the path
of another particle.

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the total head will be the sum of pressure head and
elevation head

h : head (m)
uw: pore pressure (Pa)
ϒw: unit weight of water
Z : elevation head

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Pressure head = pore water pressure/ϒw
Elevation head = height above the selected datum

The loss of head between two

points, A and B, can be given by

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• Flow of an ideal fluid (incompressible and non viscous)
The head remain constant between two points on the flow line
• Water is a viscous fluid and when it flows through a saturated soil
mass there is
dissipation or loss of energy
loss of head between two points on the flow line

Water flows from points of high to low =TOTAL head

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Hydraulic gradient
 As the water flows from A to B, there is an energy loss which is
represented by the difference in the total heads h1 - h2 (hA - hB)
 The loss of head of Δh units is effected as the water flows from A to B.
• The loss of head per unit length of flow may be expressed as

Where i is called the hydraulic gradient

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Exercise
Determine the hydraulic gradient between points B and
D

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For the setup shown in figure given below) - Calculate the pressure head, elevation
head, total head and head loss at points B, C,D and F

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EXERCISE

For the setup shown in figure given below) - Calculate the pressure head, elevation
head, total head and head loss at points B, C,D and F in centimeter of water.

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 Darcy’s Law
Henry Darcy (1803-1858), Hydraulic Engineer. His law is a
foundation stone for several fields of study

Darcy’s Law demonstrated experimentally that for laminar

flow conditions in a saturated soil, the rate of flow or the
discharge per unit time is proportional to the hydraulic
gradient

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 Darcy’s Law

Darcy(1856) stated that the flow of water through porous media is

directly proportional to the head loss and inversely proportional to the
length of flow path. This may be written as:

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 Darcy's law

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 Hydraulic Conductivity
Permeability is also known as hydraulic conductivity.
Hydraulic conductivity, marked as K, values, is one of the principal and
most important soil hydrology (hydraulic) characteristic (parameter) and
it is an important factor in water transport in the soil and is used in all
equations for groundwater (subsurface water) flow.
 The value of hydraulic conductivity varies widely for different soils.
 The hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated soils is lower and increases
rapidly with the degree of saturation.

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 The determination of permeability

The permeability of a soil can be measured in either the laboratory or

the field;

•Laboratory methods are much easier than field methods.

•Field determinations of permeability is important

–k is a function of both micro- and macro structure

–difficulty of getting representative soil samples

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Methods of determination of hydraulic conductivity of soils
1) Laboratory methods:
1. Constant head permeability method
2. Falling head permeability method
How good is the sample ?
2) Field methods:
1. Pumping tests
2. Borehole infiltration tests
Need to know soil profile (inc. water table) & boundary conditions?
3) Indirect Method:
Empirical correlations (relating grain size and void ratio to
hydraulic conductivity)
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Laboratory Determination of Coefficient of Permeability
Constant – Head Test

The permeability test is a measure of the rate of the flow of water

through soil.

In this test, water is forced by a known constant pressure through a soil

specimen of known dimensions and the rate of flow is determined.

This test is used primarily to determine the suitability of sands and

gravels for drainage purposes, and is made only on remolded samples

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Laboratory Determination of Coefficient of Permeability

where Q = volume of water collected

A = area of cross section of the soil specimen
t = duration of water collection

More suited for coarse grained soils such as gravelly

sand, coarse
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-5 m/s 31
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 Example
• L = 30 cm

• A =area of the specimen = 177 cm2

• Constant-head difference, h =50 cm
• Water collected in a period of 5 min = 350 cm3

Calculate the hydraulic conductivity in cm/sec.

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Exercise

A sand sample of 35 cm2 cross sectional area and 20 cm long was tested
in a constant head permeability. Under a head of 60 cm, the discharge
was 120 ml in 6 min. Determine (a) the hydraulic conductivity in cm/sec.
(b) the discharge velocity.

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 Laboratory Determination of Coefficient of Permeability

Falling – Head Test

Relatively for less permeable soils

Water flows through the sample from a standpipe attached to the top of
the cylinder.

The head of water (h) changes with time as flow occurs through the
soil. At different times the head of water is recorded.

A typical arrangement of the falling-head permeability test is shown in

figure in the next slid.

Water from a standpipe flows through the soil, the initial head
difference h1 at time t=0 is recorded and water is allowed to flow
through the soil specimen such that the final head difference at time t
= t2 is h2.
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 Laboratory

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For a falling-head permeability test, the following values are given:
 Length of specimen = 200 mm.
Area of soil specimen = 1000 mm2.
Area of standpipe = 40 mm2.
Head difference at time t = 0 = 500 mm.
Head difference at time t = 180 sec = 300 mm.
? Determine the hydraulic conductivity of the soil in cm/sec.

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 laboratory Determination of Coefficient of Permeability
Field Tests for K
Field tests are generally more reliable than laboratory tests for
determining soil permeability , the main reason being that field tests are
performed on the undisturbed soil exactly as it occurs in situ at the test
location.

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In stratified soils, average horizontal permeability is

greater than average vertical permeability .

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 A layered soil is shown in Figure below. Given:

Estimate the ratio of equivalent hydraulic conductivity,

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A layered soil profile 48
 Seepage and flow nets

In this section, we will discuss the following:

 Procedure to construct flow nets and calculation of
seepage in isotropic and anisotropic soils
 Seepage through earth dams

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 Seepage
In many instances, the flow of water through soil is not in one direction
only, nor is it uniform over the entire area perpendicular to the flow.

In such cases, the groundwater flow is generally calculated by the use

of graphs referred to as flow nets.

The concept of the flow net is based on Laplace’s equation of

continuity, which governs the steady flow condition for a given point in
the soil mass.

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 A flow line is a line along which a water particle will travel from
upstream to the downstream side in the permeable soil medium.
 An equipotential line is a line along which the potential head at all
points is equal.

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Properties of a Flow Net

1. Flow and equipotential lines are smooth curves

2. Flow lines and equipotential lines meet at right angles
to each other
3. No two flow lines cross each other.
4. No two flow or equipotential lines start from the same
point.

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Flownet construction
Rules for drawing flownets
1. All impervious boundaries are flow lines.
2. All permeable boundaries are equipotential
3. Phreatic surface - pressure is atmospheric, i.e. excess pressure is zero.
4. All parts of the flow net must have the same geometric proportions
(e.g. square or similarly shaped rectangles).
5. Good approximations can be obtained with 4 - 6 flow channels

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Procedure for drawing flow nets
 Mark all boundary conditions
 Draw a coarse net which is consistent with the boundary
conditions and which has orthogonal equipotentials and
flow lines. (It is usually easier to visualize the pattern of
flow so start by drawing the flow lines).
 Modify the mesh so that it meets the conditions outlined
above and so that rectangles between adjacent flow lines
and equipotentials are square.
 Refine the flow net by repeating the previous step.
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The geometrical conditions The boundary flow lines and
are plotted to scale equipotentials are drawn

The equipotential lines necessary to obtain

A few additional flow lines are then
curvilinear squares are then plotted so that both
plotted, perpendicular to the known
sets of curves are perpendicular to each other.
boundary equipotentials
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 Determination of quantity of seepage
The quantity of seepage q is calculated per unit length of the section.

Flow is assumed to be two dimensional so a unit width of the cross-

section is considered.
The total flow around the structure will then depend on its overall length.
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Exercise
A flow net for around a single row of sheet piles in a permeable soil layer is shown
in figure below. Given that k= 5* 10 -3 cm /sec.
a) How high (above the ground surface ) will the water rise if piezometers are
placed at points a, b, c and d?
b) What is the rate of seepage under sheet pile?

lecture 5- shear strength of soils.pptx

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